Today in APIs: HTC's Dual Lens SDK, and 10 New APIs

HTC launches SDK for dual lens API. U.S. Department of Education asks what you can do with an API. Plus: the year of the API consumer, Currency Cloud raises $10M, and 10 new APIs.

Seeing is Believing: HTC Offers SDK for Dual Lens API

HTC has launched its SDK for its HTC One (M8) Duo Camera smartphone that mimics the vision capability of the human eye with a pair of independent lenses. In the photo below you see two choices of what to focus on, for example. Properties are assigned to each pixel, allowing for repurposing to maximize image quality.

Back in March, HTC had announced that the SDK for the cameras on the HTC One (M8) would be available soon. The camera module is known as the Duo-Camera, and as most of you know it’s capable of doing all kinds of interesting things. The top camera is there primarily for depth information, so you are able to change the focus points, customize the background and do much more. The SDK is for their Dual Lens API, which is now available from HTCDev.

Features that can be controlled include Ufocus (allowing the focus to land on any object in the photo), ForeGrounder (which emphasizes the subject by shifting color and saturation) and Dimension Plus (that enables a parallax view).

Dept. of Ed: What Can You Do With an API?

The U.S. Department of Education has put out a request for information (RFI) on APIs, asking, what can you do with them? The department seeks to increase innovation and access to data in education, as well as increase efficiency.

As David Soo a senior policy advisor at the U.S. Department of Education, writes on the Department's blog,

...today, we are asking you – student advocates, designers, developers, and others – to share your ideas on how APIs could spark innovation and enable processes that can serve students better. We need you to weigh in on a Request for Information (RFI) – a formal way the government asks for feedback – on how the Department could use APIs to increase access to higher education data or financial aid programs. There may be ways that Department forms – like the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) – or information-gathering processes could be made easier for students by incorporating the use of APIs. We invite the best and most creative thinking on specific ways that Department of Education APIs could be used to improve outcomes for students.

10 New APIs

Today we had 10 new APIs added to our API directory including a prescription medicine bottle technology, an address input simplification service, a web data extraction service and an ecommerce conversion application service. Below are more details on each of these new APIs.

The AdhereTech API allows developers to access and integrate the functionality of AdhereTech with other applications and to create new applications. Public documentation is not available; interested developers should contact AdhereTech for API information.

Coddress API: Coddress is an address platform that allows users to simplify their address for input. It has custom input solutions for distinct areas, converting accordingly for different websites.

The Coddress API can provide registered address information to company websites or blogs. It returns CDR search results in XML, JSON format.

ConvExtra API: ConvExtra is a web extraction tool. Data can be extracted from sources such as catalogs, online stores, and news feeds. The information is formatted and structured in CVS format, enabling further processing such as price comparisons, product comparisons, or data analyzation. You can also subscribe to receive alerts about the extracted data.

The ConvExtra API is activated by url request and parameters can be transmitted by GET or POST.

Granify API: Granify is an eCommerce companion application. Granify works with eCommerce sites to predict which customers will and won't purchase goods and tries to convert them into sales.

The Granify API allows developers to access and integrate the functionality of Granify with other applications. Public documentation is not available; API access comes with account service.

Livewello API: LiveWello is a social health management platform. Patients can manage their health using the support of family, friends, and health practitioners.

Lumo BodyTech API: Lumo BodyTech are wearable technologies to help people with their posture, standing tall and straight, and lifting correctly.

The Lumo BodyTech API allows developers to access and integrate the functionality of Lumo BodyTech with other applications and to create new applications. Public documentation is not available; interested developers should email bizdev@lumobodytech.com for more information.

meQuilibrium API: meQuilibrium is a stress monitoring and management service. Users can use meQuilibrium to monitor their cognitive and stress indicators to manage their stress levels. Employers can offer it to their employees to reduce stress in employees.

The meQuilibrium API allows developers to access and integrate the functionality of meQuilibrium with other applications and to create new applications. Public documentation is not available; interested developers should contact meQuilibrium for more information.

The RxREVU API allows developers to access and integrate the functionality of RxREVU with other applications and to create new applications. Public documentation is not available; interested developers should contact RxREVU for more information.

Scoresight.io API: Scoresight.io is a football prediction API that uses crowd predictions, social sentiment, and historical results to predict scores of soccer (football) matches.

The Scoresight.io API allows developers to access and integrate the functionality of Scoresight.io with other applications and to create new applications. Public documentation is not available; interested developers should sign up at http://www.scoresight.io.

The VoxSci API, VAPI, allows existing systems to integrate voice to text conversions transparently. Audio files are sent to VAPI, where their system handles the transcriptions, and then sends them back to the originating system.

About the author:Greg Bates
A writer for Programmableweb since 2012, Greg is a freelance writer and a maniacal editor of dissertations and term papers. - Follow me on Google+